Cost of closing Yankee climbs

The cost of decommissioning the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant has gone up $25 million in the past year, at the same time its savings account to cover the costs of dismantlement and cleanup has declined about $93 million. But according to a filing with the NRC this week, Entergy Nuclear has no plans of making any new contributions to the decommissioning trust fund, sidestepping the issue of the recent declines in the trust fund because of the economic crisis. Entergy told the NRC that it now expected decommissioning to cost $909 million, up from $875 million, according to its 2008 report. The plant's decommissioning fund has declined from $430 million to $347 million in the past 11 months, a 20 percent decline.

Rutland Herald